Guatemalan national pleads guilty to immigration crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Guatemalan national pleaded guilty today to an immigration crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Juan Us-Sajbin, 36, entered his guilty plea to illegally reentering the United States.

Us-Sajbin admitted that he was not lawfully present in the United States when he was encountered by Department of Homeland Security agents on May 19, 2017. He was identified when agents were looking for another individual residing near Kanawha State Forest. Agents conducted surveillance, confirmed the identity of Us-Sajbin, and then placed him under arrest. Us-Sajbin had not formally applied for permission to legally reenter the United States and was not otherwise in the United States by any legal process. He was previously removed in 2013 after being convicted of misdemeanor assault in Mahoning County, Ohio.

Us-Sajbin faces up to two years in federal prison when he is sentenced on October 17, 2017. He is also subject to deportation proceedings at the conclusion of the criminal case.

The Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.